An accurate power delivery system (PDS) design methodology for high-speed digital systems

The trend in high-speed digital circuits is to increase speed and density and to operate at lower voltage. This fast increase in the switching speed combined with the decrease of the operating voltage causes the allowable absolute voltage variations to decrease, which makes the PDS design a more challenging task than ever. Moreover, the complex 3D nature of the modern PDS causes it to be more sensitive to capacitors' placement as well as capacitance value. In this paper, we introduce an efficient complete solution for the design of high-speed digital PDS. This solution (a) takes the effects of the decoupling capacitor placement into consideration through a 3D electromagnetic simulation of the PDS, (b) defines a more-realistic PDS design target, and (c) presents a clear capacitor value selection methodology. Finally, we applied our methodology to an industrial test case, compared its results with that of industrial design, and showed its advantages. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.